A personal account of
growing up on the Zig Zag, by former resident Meg Davidson.

Photo: Bottom Points in
1959, showing the three signalmen's cottages and signal box.

Moving In

It was in 1959 that my parents moved to the Zig Zag. The middle cottage
in the above photo is the first of 2 of the cottages that my family lived
in. During the early 1960ís the cottage to the left of the photo was
sold and moved away by truck to the North Coast.

In January 1966 my family moved briefly from Zig Zag to Belmore in
Sydney for 3 months whilst my Dad did some training in the yards at
Enfield. Upon our return to Zig Zag in April 1966 we moved into the end
cottage (towards the centre of the photo). This cottage had an electricity
tower next to it.

When my parents moved back to the Zig Zag they bought the two remaining
cottages, the middle one was purchased for $100 and the end one for $300,
and because my Dad was a railway employee he was able to lease the land
the two cottages were on for $10 per year. The NSW Railways did not ask
for payment in full at the time of the purchase, but instead requested
that payments be deducted from Dadís salary.

Thunderstorm

TV reception was poor, and we could only receive ABC (2), so Dad set up
a cable at the top of the road and ran it all the way down to the
cottages. We could then pick up channels 2, 7, 9, 10 from Sydney, and
Channels 3 and 4. The only trouble we ever had with reception was when it
snowed and the snow settling on the cable caused interference.

I recall one evening in January 1970, just after dinner, an electrical
storm passing over the valley. My mum was washing up the dishes and my Dad
was watching TV with the children. Mum had called out to Dad on a number
of occasions to turn off the TV because of the storm. Dad was making his
way to the TV and was only inches away when lightning struck the aerial on
the mountain and travelled down the cable, blowing up the TV.

Tiger Snake!

Another incident that I recall so vividly in the late 1960ís was a
goods train bound for Lithgow on a hot summersí day during the school
holidays. My Mum was hanging out the washing while the children played in
the backyard, which was about where the passenger train is in the photo. A
goods train came to a screeching halt and stopped in front of the cottage.
The driver jumped out of the engine and yelled to my Mum to take all the
children inside the house as he had seen a huge Tiger snake crossing the
tracks. The guard went to get my Dad and his gang who were working in a
nearby tunnel. They checked the train axles and the train moved on. The
work gang then began burning off around the side fence lines and
eventually they caught and killed a 6 foot long Tiger snake.

The
middle cottage of the 3 signalmanís cottages in the early 1960ís
(family
photo supplied by Meg Davidson).

This
cottage was eventually pulled down by my father around 1967. The timbers
were used to add a dinning room and an enclosed rumpus room to the end
cottage, along with a chook house and a fully timber lined pool for our
ducks to swim in. All
the work was done by my father, Michael Hoffman.